The invention relates to a method for implementing time switching, and to a time switch.
In this connection, time switch refers to a device capable of switching the contents of any time slot in the frame structure of an incoming signal to any time slot in an outgoing frame structure. In addition to a time switch, this device can also be called a time slot interchanger.
Cross-connection of a TDM (Time Division Multiplex) signal is effected in a time switch comprising a connection memory into which the contents of incoming time slots are written, and on the one hand, means for controlling writing into the memory, and on the other other hand, means for controlling reading from the memory. Switching data is stored in an address control memory of the time switch, the memory locations of which are read cyclically--one memory location per each outgoing time slot. The contents of a memory location indicate that memory location of the connection memory from which the information is read.
In known solutions, switching data consists of the absolute address of a time slot, i.e. that time slot of an outgoing signal which is outgoing at that particular moment is given the number of the incoming time slot the contents of which are to be switched to the outgoing time slot.
The known solutions have the drawback of making the equipment fairly complicated.